Embattled and indicted Pensacola entrepreneur Matthew Banks has been the subject of new allegations added to the white-collar felony charges he faces for allegedly stealing millions of dollars from his clients.
An Escambia County grand jury issued a superseding indictment on June 27 to add a new allegation of fraud. Banks is now charged with making fraudulent statements on documents involving two additional companies to his Banks Construction LLC.
The indictment states that Banks “knowingly and willfully (made) a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation regarding the executive member of limited liability companies, in documents submitted to the Florida Department of State, the Articles of Association of 3T Construction LLC and Fourtee Construction LLC.”
Chief Assistant District Attorney Bridgette Jensen told the News Journal that the state did not impose more charges on the banks, but the indictment adds new allegations of fraud to her current charges.
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Banks is charged with racketeering, aggravated white-collar criminality, fraud, and destroying or tampering with evidence.
The indictment also says jurors found that Banks “concealed or suppressed business records of Banks Construction LLC, which were to be retained … for the purpose of impairing the availability of records in any such proceeding or investigation” after he was previously charged in a previous fraud case in 2022.
Banks is also accused of fabricating or falsifying public documents, defrauding his clients and stealing his employees’ salary money.
The former contractor had already been indicted on his charges on April 4, with State’s Attorney Ginger Bowden Madden then holding a press conference the following day to discuss the charges.
“Today, the defendant in this case has been charged and will face trial for exploiting innocent victims who attempted to improve their lives for personal gain,” Bowden Madden said in a statement. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold the defendant accountable for taking advantage of people by stealing their money and diminishing their trust in businesses.”
Banks has been at the center of attention regarding contractor scams in the greater Escambia and Santa Rosa counties area for nearly a year after Gulf Breeze’s wife, Jennifer Anderson, one of the critics the most vocal of Banks, said his construction company took $40,000 for a kitchen remodel, tore the kitchen down, and never returned.
Anderson’s experience led her to identify more than 100 people in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties who had hired Banks Construction for renovations but were allegedly scammed out of their money. Eventually, this led to an investigation by the Bureau of Farm Law Enforcement, a branch of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Over several months and numerous skills board hearings, Banks racked up a multimillion-dollar restitution bill, which led to his declaration of bankruptcy in August. However, the Northern District of Florida Bankruptcy Court dismissed the case on September 14, 2022, after Banks filed a voluntary case dismissal.
Banks is currently being held in the Escambia County Jail without bond.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Former Pensacola entrepreneur Matthew Bank faces new fraud allegations